Enriching social work research through architectural multisensory methods: Strategies for connecting the built environment and human experience

2020 ◽  
pp. 147332502092445
Author(s):  
Alison L Grittner ◽  
Victoria F Burns
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Built Environments ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
The Relationship

Scholars have called for greater emphasis on the physical environment to expand social work research, policy, and practice; however, there has been little focus on the role of the built environment. Redressing this gap in the literature, this methodological paper explicates how four multisensory research methods commonly used in architecture—sketch walks, photography, spatial visualization, and mapping—can be used in social work research to create a greater understanding of the complex, interconnected, and multidimensional nature of built environments in relationship to human experience. The methods explored in this paper provide social work researchers with a methodological conduit to explore the relationship between the built environment and vulnerable populations, understand and advocate for spatial justice, and participate knowledgeably in interdisciplinary policy realms involving the built environment and marginalized populations.

Daring to differ? Strategies of inclusion in peacemaking

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas T Hirblinger ◽  
Dana M Landau
Keyword(s):  
Research Policy ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
The Third ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Single Identity ◽  
Sociopolitical Structures ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Do So ◽  
Specific Identity

‘Inclusion’ has emerged as a prominent theme in peacemaking. However, its exact meaning remains vague, as do assumptions about the relationship between inclusion and peace. This article seeks to problematize the research, policy and practice of inclusion. Focusing on United Nations (UN) peacemaking, we ask how the object of inclusion has been framed, and based on what strategies and underlying rationales. We do so against the backdrop of emerging debates about an agonistic peace, which suggest that violent antagonistic relationships can be overcome if peace processes enable contestation between adversaries. This requires that peacemakers recognize the constitutive role of difference in political settlements. We identify three distinct strategies for inclusion, with corresponding framings of the included. Firstly, inclusion can be used to build a more legitimate peace; secondly, to empower and protect specific actor groups; and thirdly, to transform the sociopolitical structures that underlie conflict. The first strategy frames the included in open terms that can accommodate a heterogeneity of actors, the second in closed terms pertaining to specific identity traits, and the third in relational terms emerging within a specific social, cultural and political context. In practice, this leads to tensions in the operationalization of inclusion, which are evidence of an inchoate attempt to politicize peace processes. In response, we argue for an approach to relational inclusion that recognizes the power relations from which difference emerges; neither brushing over difference, nor essentializing single identity traits, but rather remaining flexible in navigating a larger web of relationships that require transformation.

Evaluating Social Work: Progress and Prospects

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Cheetham
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
Evaluative Research ◽  
Evidence Of Impact

Within the past decade, evaluative research has achieved an established and well-regarded place within the repertoire of social work inquiry. Although increasingly wide-ranging and methodologically sophisticated, social work evaluation still has to contend with important challenges. These include taking greater account of the several audiences of research, namely, service users, practitioners, and policy makers; developing, through a variety of research methods, the range and quality of evidence of impact; and drawing research, policy, and practice into closer union. To reach its full potential, social work research must focus both on individuals and their social worlds and must therefore be firmly rooted in the social sciences.

Common Factors in Psychotherapy

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Drisko
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Common Factors ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Conceptual Base ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common ◽  
Common Factors In Psychotherapy

This entry examines the common factors approach in social work and in related professions. The term “common factors” refers to a set of features that are shared across different specific models of psychotherapy and social services, but may not always be conceptualized as being curative influences. The common factors approach broadens the conceptual base of potentially curative variables for practice and research. The history of common factors, the research designs and statistical methods that have led to the approach’s elaboration, the approach’s empirical base, and its fit with social work’s person-in-environment perspective are each explored. The intersection of the common factors approach with the evidence-based practice movement is examined. The role of common factors in the psychotherapy integration movement is also discussed. The implications of the common factors approach for research, policy, and practice in social work are identified.

The Role of Place in the Lives of Sex Workers: A Sociospatial Analysis of Two International Case Studies

Affilia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-293
Author(s):  
Alison Grittner ◽  
Kathleen C. Sitter
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Material Environment

This article conceptualizes how place-based analysis can generate innovative understandings of sex work and spatial justice, including ways in which stigma, well-being, and marginality are embodied in sex work places. Focusing on three interconnected dimensions of place—geographic location, material environment, and sociopower structures—this article examines the unexplored realm of place and sex work. Beginning with an analysis of existing sex work literature and knowledge relating to dimensions of place, we explicate the role of feminist ideologies, juridical contexts, and the built environment as the conceptual and analytic groundwork for a place-based understanding of sex work. Architectural spatial methods then generate a place-based analysis of two case study exemplars: the Residence in Western Canada and the Strichtplatz in Zurich, Switzerland. We conclude by considering avenues to incorporate place theory into sex work research and the social work discipline, ultimately advocating for research, policy, and practice that concomitantly address sex workers’ social and spatial oppression.

scholarly journals Emotional intelligence as a part of critical reflection in social work practice and research

2021 ◽  
pp. 147332502110247
Author(s):  
Mari D Herland
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Emotional Aspects

Social workers often experience higher levels of burnout compared with other healthcare professionals. The capacity to manage one’s own emotional reactions efficiently, frequently in complex care settings, is central to the role of social workers. This article highlights the complexity of emotions in social work research and practice by exploring the perspective of emotional intelligence. The article is both theoretical and empirical, based on reflections from a qualitative longitudinal study interviewing fathers with behavioural and criminal backgrounds, all in their 40 s. The analysis contains an exploration of the researcher position that illuminates the reflective, emotional aspects that took place within this interview process. Three overall themes emerged – first: Recognising emotional complexity; second: Reflecting on emotional themes; and third: Exploring my own prejudices and preconceptions. The findings apply to both theoretical and practical social work, addressing the need to understand emotions as a central part of critical reflection and reflexivity. The argument is that emotions have the potential to expand awareness of one’s own preconceptions, related to normative societal views. This form of analytical awareness entails identifying and paying attention to one’s own, sometimes embodied, emotional triggers.

The Role of Preschool Peers in Children's Language Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (02) ◽  
pp. 088-100
Author(s):  
Kelly M. Purtell ◽  
Arya Ansari ◽  
Qingqing Yang ◽  
Caroline P. Bartholomew
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Preschool Classrooms ◽  
Early Language Development ◽  
Maximum Benefit ◽  
Recent Attention

AbstractAlmost 5 million children attend preschool in the United States each year. Recent attention has been paid to the ways in which preschool classrooms shape children's early language development. In this article, we discuss the importance of peers and classroom composition through the lens of age and socioeconomic status and the implications for children's early learning and development. We also discuss the direct and indirect mechanisms through which classroom peers may shape each other's language development. As part of this discussion, we focus on exposure to peer language and engagement with peers, along with teachers' classroom practices. We conclude by discussing the ways in which teachers can ensure that children in classrooms of different compositions reap the maximum benefit, along with implications for research, policy, and practice.

Research End-User Perspectives about Using Social Work Research in Policy and Practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Tilbury ◽  
Mark Hughes ◽  
Christine Bigby ◽  
Mike Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Well Being ◽  
End Users ◽  
Research Translation ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Telephone Interviews ◽  
Research Engagement ◽  
Engagement Strategies ◽  
User Perspectives

Abstract Research funding and assessment initiatives that foster engagement between researchers and research end-users have been adopted by governments in many countries. They aim to orient research towards achieving measurable impacts that improve economic and social well-being beyond academia. This has long been regarded as important in social work research, as it has in many fields of applied research. This study examined research engagement and impact from the perspective of research end-users working in human services. In-person or telephone interviews were conducted with forty-three research end-users about how they used research and interacted with researchers. Content analysis was undertaken to identify engagement strategies and thematic coding was employed to examine underpinning ideas about research translation into practice. Participants were involved in many types of formal and informal research engagements. They viewed research translation as a mutual responsibility but indicated that researchers should do more to improve the utility of their research for industry. The findings highlight the iterative nature of engagement and impact and raise questions about the infrastructure for scaling up impact beyond relationships between individual researchers and their industry partners.

Using the Core Concepts Framework to Understand Three Generations of Inclusive Practices

Inclusion ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karrie A. Shogren ◽  
Michael L. Wehmeyer
Keyword(s):  
Research Policy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Third Generation ◽  
Inclusive Practices ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Inclusive Practice ◽  
The Core ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This article analyzes the relationship between the core concepts of disability policy and the three generations of inclusive practices. Specifically, we review the three generations of inclusive practice, highlighting the core concepts that have been most strongly emphasized during each generation of inclusive practices. Because we are early in the third generation of inclusive practices, we conclude by examining how the core concepts can guide and direct third generation inclusive practices and how future research, policy, and practice can actualize the aspirational values of all of the core concepts to enable desired outcomes.

scholarly journals Socio-legal studies and the humanities – law, interdisciplinarity and integrity

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie L. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Human Experience ◽  
Normative Values ◽  
Moral Sensibility ◽  
Hard Data ◽  
Legal Studies ◽  
Psychological Significance ◽  
The One ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This paper was delivered as a plenary lecture, designed to respond to the one-day special conference focus upon links between socio-legal studies and the humanities.1 The paper focuses in particular upon the relationship between law and the humanities. It may be argued that the role of empirically sourced socio-legal research is well accepted, given its tangible utility in terms of producing hard data which can inform and transform policy perspectives. However, scholarly speculation about the relationship between law and the humanities ranges from the indulgent to the hostile. In particular, legal scholars aligning themselves as ‘black letter’ commentators express strong opinions about such links, suggesting that scholarship purporting to establish links between the two fields is essentially spurious, bearing in mind the purposive role of law as a problem-solving mechanism. The paper sets out to challenge such assertions, indicating the natural connections between the two fields and the philosophical necessity of continued interaction, given the fact that certain aspects of human experience and nature cannot be plumbed by doctrine or empiricism or even by combinations of the two. Law must be understood to stand at the nexus of human experience, in a relationship of integrity, where the word is understood to mean both morally principled and culturally integrated. In particular, the development of human qualities, of character and moral sensibility informing normative values – and, ultimately, engagement with the world of law – is a process of subtle cultural as well as psychological significance, and may benefit from interrogation deriving from the wider fields of human discourse.

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